A Feminist Manifesto In Fifteen Suggestion

As the times change, society’s mentality evolves. People’s view of women throughout history has metamorphosed into the strong feminist leaders we look up to today. Some components of women’s lives, however, are still in need of an update. For example, women are often expected to choose between wanting children and wanting a career. This assumption of a woman prioritizing her family over her career is severely outdated and should no longer limit what a woman can become in her life.

Since ancient times, women have been expected to be the ones to quit their careers and put their lives on hold to focus on birthing and raising children. Females are taught to accept this notion’s inevitability from an early age (Adichie). This notion arises from

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book, Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, stresses the importance of a women choosing her own path. Adichie advocates women to reach for a career alongside her family, not behind her family, and to “reject the idea that motherhood and work are mutually exclusive” (Adichie, page 9). The struggle that mothers face to have careers was researched by Hana Schank and Elizabeth Wallace in their article “When Women Choose Children Over a Career.” The authors found that about a quarter of women end up at home raising children instead of utilizing their college degrees. Even though these women usually do not intend to end up careerless and had once aspired to be successful in the working world, it happens. Schank and Wallace interviewed women to begin to understand why it is so common to change one’s life plans after becoming a mother. Most of the women explained that the cost of childcare factored in with their salaries concluded that “their working would negatively affect their family” (Schank). This issue is understandable and common with mothers with low paying jobs. It is not practical for a mother to pay for expensive, necessary childcare so that she can go to her job when it costs more than what her job is paying (Poduval). Other women shared